The violent builder kicked and beat Mr Lee so badly that he was given the last rites in hospital, where he had been rushed after his spleen ruptured.

Thankfully, he survived and last night 45-year-old Cosgrove, of Oakes, was starting an eight-and-a-half year jail term.

His attack on Mr Lee, who had reported Cosgrove for stealing paving slabs, left a judge to condemn him

Judge Rodney Jameson QC told Cosgrove: “It is clear from the evidence you picked him up, threw him to the concrete floor where you began a vicious assault on him, punching, kicking and stamping on him repeatedly.”